A Summer to Remember

I picked Sarah up in my arms, and started sprinting to our van. She was obviously severely dehydrated, and she had cuts and bruises everywhere. She was in really bad condition. When I got to the van, the guys were already there waiting. Cameron pulled open the side door, and helped me lay Sarah across the seats. None of spoke the entire time. I climbed in the van, and sat on the floor next to Sarah. Cameron drove, with Michael riding shot gun. Nathan was in the backseat.

I watched Sarah drift in and out of consciousness, as we drove to the hospital. We we finally got there, Cameron pulled up to the Emergency Room, and Michael helped me carry Sarah into the lobby. It was a large room, with plastic fold-up chairs lining each wall. Those chairs were full with people, all varying in age. You could smell rubbing alcohol in the air.

I walked up to the front desk, and tried to explain my situation.

"My friend was kidnapped and we just found her and she's really dehydrated and malnourished and she needs help," I said all in one breath. The lady behind the desk, blinked in confusion, her eyes darting between me, and Michael who was carrying Sarah. She stood up quickly, and disappeared before opening the door next to the desk.

"Quickly," she said, motioning for us to follow her. She directed us through the corridors of the hospital, before taking us into an empty room. "Set her down on the bed. Carefully. I'm going to get a doctor to do a full medical exam. She obviously needs tons of stitches." Michael did as he was told, and stepped back from the bed. Sarah's eyes were closed. "I need you to fill out some forms to the best of your ability, and wait in the lobby for a while."

I nodded, and took the forms she handed to me. Michael and I went back to the lobby where we found Cameron and Nathan already sitting in the chairs. Michael explained to them what was going on, as I tried to fill out the forms.

Surprisingly, I knew a lot of the information. Past surgeries, previous injuries, allergies; I all knew. I took the partially completed form to the front desk, and handed it to a lady sitting there. She gave me a sympathetic look.

I sat back down, and fell asleep on Cameron's shoulder.

I was woken up by Cameron tapping on my face.

"Wake up!" he shouted in my ear. I groggily mumbled something unintelligent, and rubbed my eyes. "The doctor wants to talk to us," he said, pulling me out of the chair.

Instantly, I snapped back to reality.

I saw a short, pudgy, brunette guy standing at the door, holding a clipboard. He had doctor's scrubs on, and he was tapping his foot. We walked over to him, and he led us into a large room with a big table, and a dozen chairs arranged around it.

"Take a seat," he said, his voice deeper than I expected. We sat down, and looked at him. "My name is Dr. Peocra. I have examined Sarah. She's going to be okay." We all breathed a sigh of relief. "However, she has gone through a lot. She had a large gash on her head, which may have caused some minor brain damage. We stitched that up. She had cuts all over her body, again, many needing stitches. The alignment of her bruises makes us believe that she was attacked. Beaten. With a blunt object. Her right arm is completely shattered, so we had to operate to remove the pieces of bone from her muscles. In addition, she was severely dehydrated. We have her hooked up to an IV now, so she should get better. I'm glad you found her when you did. One more day, and she would have died."

"Wow," was the only thing I could muster. I looked at each of my friend's faces, and they too were frozen in a state of shock.

Dr. Peocra bit his lip, and looked at each of us.

"There's one more thing. I have reason to believe that... that she was raped."

I completely froze. I lost all abilities to speak.

"W-what?" Cameron stammered. Once again that day, tears poured down my cheek. I couldn't comprehend what he had said.

"I'm really sorry," Dr. Peocra said. He kept fiddling with his watch, obviously uncomfortable.

"When can I see her?" I asked, breaking the silence that had surrounded us.

"You may go now if you'd like. But only for a little bit. It is imperative that she rests." Dr. Peocra explained.

I nodded, and stood up. Dr. Peocra sighed, and led us out of the room. We followed him back into the hallway, and he took us up two floors.

"She's on a private floor. So, she has a room to herself." he explained, as we walked past countless doors.

Finally, he stopped. He knocked twice on the door before opening it. Instantly, the smell of hand sanitizer invaded the air. I walked into the room. It was a fairly large size for a hospital room. There was a dresser, a bathroom, a desk, and a big plasma TV. In the center of the room, was a large hospital bed. Surrounding the bed, was a heart monitor, and two IVs.

I looked at Sarah. She was laying in the center of the bed, barely taking any space up. She was sleeping. Someone had washed her hair, and gotten all of the tangles out of it. Around the gash in her head, there was no hair. Hundreds of stitches closed it up. She had a hospital gown on, and dozens of blankets were on her feet.

Her skin looked even more pale then earlier. I swear I could see her veins in her arms.

"She is probably going to be sleeping for a while. We have her on some strong pain killers, and the anesthesia from her surgery still hasn't worn off." Dr. Peocra whispered. "However, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We will call you if her condition changes."

He shooed us out of the room, and back into the lobby. We all agreed to go home and change, but we would come right back.

When we arrived at our hotel, I was feeling as high as a kite. I don't think anything could bring me down.